06 Jul 2010 President withdraws Nigerian football threat BYPete Hayman
Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has withdrawn his decision to withdraw the country's football team from international competition for a two-year period.
The president imposed a ban on the Nigerian football team following a poor performance at the 2010 World Cup, but performed a u-turn in response to an ultimatum from world governing body FIFA.
FIFA had threatened to ban the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) in the wake of the "governmental interference", which the president said was needed to reshape the country's football authorities.
The NFF has already sacked three officials following the World Cup - president Alhaji Sani Lulu Abdullahi; first vice president Amanze Uchegbulam; and technical and development committee chair Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi.
In a statement, the presidency said: "The NFF assured the president of their commitment to evolving an enduring football development programme, and grow a new senior national team that will bring glory rather than consistent embarrassment to Nigeria on the world stage."
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